Up for sale, a 1986 Fender Boxer Series Stratocaster model ST-555, honestly played and in perfect working order. Built in Japan at the famed FujiGen factory during the golden age of Fender Japan production, the ST-555 is perfectly tailored for the “Superstrat” crowd, featuring an HH pickup configuration and FS-1 tremolo system.
Tonewoods include a basswood body, maple neck, and slab 22 fret rosewood fretboard, and acoustically this guitar has a resonant, lively quality that translates well through the pair of Dragster humbuckers. The pickups are full and punchy, with a tight low end and clear, articulate highs; metering at 7.4k ohms. This Boxer Strat weighs 8lbs 3oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action and spot-on intonation.
The maple neck has a slender C-shaped profile carve with well-rounded shoulders, measuring .805” deep at the 1st fret and .910” at the 12th. The slab rosewood fretboard is a notably dark cut with original flawless medium jumbo fretwire which has ostensibly been leveled and crowned in the instrument's lifetime. This guitar plays cleanly up the 25 1/2” scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The gloss Black headstock features a 42.5mm (1.675”) graphite nut, as well as the original locking nut for the tremolo system and Fender Japan-stamped Gotoh tuners, working in tandem to ensure maximum tuning stability through even the deepest of divebombs. Additionally, there is a small “60” sticker on the back of the headstock which denoted the price in Japan in 1986 (¥60,000). The microscopic “Made in Japan” text is present beneath the Stratocaster name on the headstock face, and the A-prefix serial number is embossed on the four-bolt neck plate.
All of the electronics function as intended, with the pickups governed by a three-way blade-style selector switch and Master Volume and Tone controls. The harness is stock save for the Volume pot, which has been replaced with a modern USA-made CTS pot. Hardware includes the black FS1 (Fender System 1) tremolo, with roller saddles, two point-pivot and snap-in arm design based on the Blade Shooter tremolo released prior. The original knobs have been replaced with a pair of black traditional Strat-style knobs, and the one-ply black pickguard displays scuffing along the treble side of the strum path.
This gloss Black finish exhibits one large finish chip on the outside edge of the treble-side body horn and some finish scratches and pinhead-sized dings across the body as a whole, with more concentrated wear on the lower bout top and back. The gloss finish on the neck profile is practically perfect and feels smooth and fast in the palm.
A gigbag is included.